It was a long and arduous and unequal contest. I wished very heartily
I could bear a rather less passive part. But this fearless creature
scarcely heeded me; used me like a helpless child, half tenderly, half
roughly, displaying ever and again over his shoulder only a fleeting
glance of the shallow glories of his eyes, as if to reassure me of his
power and my safety.
But the latter, those distant savannahs will bear witness, seemed
forlorn enough. My eyes swam with weariness of these crested,
earth-disdaining battalions. I sickened of the heat of the sun, the
incessant sidelong jolting, the amazing green. But on we went, fleet
and stubborn, into ever-thickening danger. How feeble a quarry amid so
many hunters!
Two things grew clearer to me each instant. First, that every movement
and feint of our pursuers was of design. Not a beast that wheeled but
wheeled to purpose; while the main body never swerved, thundered
superbly on toward the inevitable end. And next I perceived with even
keener assurance that my guide knew his country and his enemy and his
own power and aim as perfectly and consummately; knew, too--this was
the end.
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